Budget 41-50k Slim and light laptop for browsing and movie

tech.addict

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Hi,
I need a laptop mainly for browsing and works related to MS office and likes and some movie watching.

Need to be light and portable.

Good display. Keyboard should be good.

HDD/RAM should be expnadible.

Since I will watch movie sometimes a 15 incher is preferred although I don't know if it it is possible to get a 15 incher weighing around 1.6KG in my budget.

Budget: ~50K

Brand: no preference as long as it is serviceable in metro cities.
 
RAM expansion and under 1.6kg usually don't mix. Take a look at the ASUS Vivobook Flip/MSI Modern

If you drop the RAM expansion criteria, the Mi Notebook is also worth considering for the price.
 
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Thanks mate!!
I can drop the RAM expansion but HDD expansion or addition will be there?
Is there anything in the 15 inch range?
Just clarifying, the MSI Modern has upgradable RAM despite its size/weight so that would be your best bet. SSD can be expanded by replacing the one that comes pre-installed

If slim/light is important to you, I'd avoid the 15-inchers as ~1 more inch isn't going to be worth the extra weight/size it will bring. Display quality also matters a lot more than size(the MSI has a 100% sRGB screen). The same goes for HDD (mechanical), wanting one of those is like paying extra to add something that you've already paid once to remove. Everything worth buying is already linked.
 
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Hi,
I need a laptop mainly for browsing and works related to MS office and likes and some movie watching.
Need to be light and portable. Good display. Keyboard should be good. HDD/RAM should be expandible.

Budget: ~50K

Few things to note - first, 14 inch is the sweet spot. 15 inch will be heavier. Second, under 50k you won't get a very color accurate display and its brightness will also be limited to 250nits. If you want a display with better color coverage and higher brightness, you'll need to increase your budget. Third, HDDs are heavy. If you want the laptop to be HDD upgradable then you can't have a lighter laptop. Fourth, laptops with HDD (or ability for expansion) usually have smaller batteries as there is only limited space inside that shell. Make your choice.

1) Thinkpad E14 Core i3 8GB/1TB HDD - ₹33k - recommended only if you are a very light user. HDD present, RAM upgradable, IPS display, Decent build quality for the price. You can add a 500GB NVMe SSD for 5k and call it a day.

2) Mi Laptop Core i5 8GB/256GB SSD - ₹42k - IPS display, Metal build, RAM NOT upgradable, SATA SSD

3) Honor Magicbook Ryzen 3500u 8GB/256GB SSD - ₹43k - IPS display, Metal build, RAM NOT upgradable, NVMe SSD, Type C Charging

4) Asus VivoBook Flip 14 Ryzen 4300U 4 GB/256 GB SSD - ₹50k - 2 in 1, RAM expandable upto 12GB, IPS display, metal chassis

5) Thinkpad E14 Ryzen 4500u 8GB/256GB SSD - ₹50k - 6 core processor easily beats Core i7 10th gen in many tasks, IPS display, decent build quality, RAM upgradable upto 24GB, SSD upgradable (No HDD), 6-7 hours of battery life on non-intensive usage

I would advice to avoid cheaper HP (poor build quality) and MSI laptops (many many horror after-sales service stories on reddit.com/r/IndianGaming). I have 2 laptops currently - Asus Vivobook and Lenovo Thinkpad. I have used HP and Dell in past. From my experience and reviews from different sites, Dell = HP > Asus > Lenovo = Acer > MSI for customer service (Mi and Honor are unknown till now but imo Mi should be better) but then it also depends on your local service provider.

Note - On Flipkart, you can avail max ₹2250 discount on the stated prices, whereas on Amazon you can get ₹1500 discount. Also, its very difficult to find many specs accurately as companies don't reveal themselves, do verify the specs and check the battery values too.
 
Thanks
How's The Honor or MI ones fare in actual use?
The Asus Flip book also looks promising.

I haven't used them personally so can't give you feedback but both have decent reviews on Flipkart and Amazon. Read all the Negative reviews yourself and then decide.

Core i5 in Mi is better than Ryzen 3500u in Honor but Ryzen integrated graphics is way better than Intel's UHD. So if you plan to do LIGHT gaming then Honor can be preferred.

From reviews, Honor battery (42 Whr) life is around 4 hours but Mi (46 Whr) is around 5 hours.

For both laptop - there is no backlit keyboard, no SD card reader, no RAM upgradability, chiclet keyboard (for best typing experience, you should look at Thinkpads), no HDD upgradability.

For Mi - no inbuilt webcam, no fingerprint scanner, no Type C charging.
For Honor - webcam placement is odd

Also, I don't think if Mi and Honor provide Onsite Warranty/Repair like what other companies do. You'll need to go to their service center for any issues. If any of that concerns you then you can look at other options.
 
@xkcd0137 very well explained mate!!
The Thinkpad one that you mentioned has good specs but it's quite heavy at 1.7Kg ( Thinkpad E14 Ryzen 4500u 8GB/256GB SSD) .
Any lighter option here? Sorry for being asking to be spoon fed! But I'm a noob here :(
Sole purpose of changing my current laptop is portability.
I'm using a Acer Aspire E15 for last 4 years (i7 5500, GeForcerce920M, 8GB RAM, upgraded to 256 GB SSD). I used at home mainly so had no problem with the weight. The laptop is fine still BTW.
 
@xkcd0137 very well explained mate!!
The Thinkpad one that you mentioned has good specs but it's quite heavy at 1.7Kg ( Thinkpad E14 Ryzen 4500u 8GB/256GB SSD) .
I have bought this laptop for my sis and use it 1-2 hrs daily and I don't feel its too heavy. Rather (I think) the weight distribution is so well done that it feels lighter than the 1.5 kg Vivobook (its front heavy) which my mom has.

Sole purpose of changing my current laptop is portability.
There is NO perfect laptop.. every device has its shortcomings. You'll have to decide which shortcomings you can live with.

If you want the fastest processor under 50k then Ryzen 4500u is the only option.

If you want metal build overall (like macbooks), Mi or Honor is the way to go.

If you want a lighter laptop, you can look at Vivobook Flip 14 Ryzen 4300u (1.5 kg) or Vivobook Ultra 14 Core i3 11th Gen (1.4 kg) but then I don't think 2-300 gms is much of a difference and you would lose out on the processor goodness of Ryzen 4500u.

There is a Vivobook Ryzen 4500u (1.4kg) version too for ₹51k but it has a TN display instead of IPS, which lacks in viewing angles and color accuracy.

If you want even lighter laptop, you'll need to increase your budget to ₹60-70k like LG Gram, HP Envy x360, Acer Swift 3, newly launched Nokia Purebook X14 etc. You'll get much better displays in this segment too.

Or you can even look for used macbooks. Due to launch of M1, many people are selling their Intel macbooks which are quite good for the depreciated price.

Etc.
I'm using a Acer Aspire E15 for last 4 years (i7 5500, GeForcerce920M, 8GB RAM, upgraded to 256 GB SSD). I used at home mainly so had no problem with the weight. The laptop is fine still BTW.
If its still working, why don't you just upgrade to SSD? Frankly, I would advise to keep using your Aspire E15 if there is no urgent need for portability.
 
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Frankly, I would advise to keep using your Aspire E15 if there is no urgent need for portability.
Recently I have to travel frequently and I have a very bad cervical spondylosis. Even carrying 4-5 Kgs of weight on my shoulder for 2-3 hours gives me considerable neck pain for the whole day. At the airport I have to carry the laptop on my backpack alongwith some other very essential things. Usually I put the charger in the checked in luggage to reduce the weight. The present lappy is almost 2.5Kg.

My usage includes:
Browsing: multiple tabs
MSoffice
Pdf editing
Some movie watching
Gaming would be - NIL

I can go upto 60K. The LG Gram looks very impressive. I was also seeing the Acer Swift.

What are sites to check on the reviews?
 
If you can go up to 60 and light weight is an important criteria then get the LG gram 14..
Nothing in that price range comes close to it.
Also surprisingly offers RAM and SSD expansion


Edit: I see it's already been recommended. Strongly seconded :)
 
My usage includes:
Browsing: multiple tabs
MSoffice
Pdf editing
Some movie watching
Gaming would be - NIL

I can go upto 60K. The LG Gram looks very impressive. I was also seeing the Acer Swift.
Cheapest Gram Core i5 10th Gen is retailing for ₹65k at the moment. You should wait for next sale or even better Core i5 11th Gen one.

..or you can look at Envy x360 with better processor. Surprisingly, Swift 3 has bad reviews on Amazon.
What are sites to check on the reviews?
No indian site is good for reviews. I frequent notebookcheck for reviews but not all products launched in India are available there.
Wow......Looks like this one pretty good, Upgradable RAM & SSD - the only downside is the no backlit keyboard...but the keyboard looks very effective.
I bought the same for ₹46k.. now they have increased the prices twice, ₹2000 at a time.
 
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Not to hijack the thread but even I'm looking for a Laptop for light usage and leaning towards the Lenovo E14 Thinkpad (with Ryzen 4500U) or the MI 14" Notebook.

@xkcd0137 : Your detailed replies and input in this thread is much appreciated and very helpful. Thank-you!
 
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